GILBERT: Pontiac, Detroit must educate leaders, voters

It was 19th century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre who said "every nation gets the government it deserves."

Is that also true of cities?

If so, then what does that tell us about Pontiac and Detroit?

Well, it doesn't say much for the inhabitants of those places because they chose the leaders -- whether of government or labor unions -- who left them in the position they find themselves.

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Now it needs to be pointed out that Maistre didn't think much of democracy. He felt the Bourbon monarchy should have been restored after the French Revolution.

In this country we don't have that option, although it is certainly true that with the emergency manager law, people in places like Pontiac and Detroit have been stripped of their rights -- disenfranchised or disqualified from the democratic process.

It should be a lesson for all of us on so many levels. One is that our rights do not rest in state or federal constitutions; they rest with the government.

And the government is led by individuals chosen by we the people.

Without pointing fingers at whomever did what in the past, what matters now is looking to the future. To proceed successfully, however, we must know what mistakes led us the position in which we find ourselves.

The principal one -- it should be obvious -- is bad math. As a nation we are in danger of repeating these errors with our national debt, Social Security and Medicare. If we go the way of Greece or Argentina, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

In fairness, labor and government leaders who negotiated the generous Pontiac and Detroit employee contracts that got these cities in trouble probably did not foresee the end of prosperity as we knew it back then.

Surely they did not brazenly and maliciously pass on a debt to a generation they knew couldn't pay it.

But it has been apparent for at least the last 10 years that paying these pensions would bust budgets. Did politicians warn voters they must designate 20 percent of their taxes to pay off these debts instead of funding services like parks and public safety?

Voters can't be blamed if they weren't told. But as they say, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

In the case of public corruption -- so rampant in both Pontiac and Detroit, as we have learned -- certainly it is hard to expect the voters to have screened these individuals better than they did. For instance, Councilman Everett Seay, sentenced to prison for bribery, fooled a lot of people for a long time.

It would be easy enough for voters to elect better leaders, but in the cases of Pontiac and Detroit, so much of the damage has already been done. You have to feel for the pensioner who might be your neighbor and will lose out on $50,000 in annual income he or she was counting on as a retiree, and is perhaps poorly positioned to re-enter the workforce.

Still, do you penalize that individual or the taxpayers as a whole?

Gov. Rick Snyder, in pursuing bankruptcy for Detroit, is siding with the many -- taxpayers and residents -- instead of the few, retirees and bond holders. Isn't that a virtuous stance to take?

Is it too late for Pontiac to check into the bankruptcy option?

Well, that will soon be in the hands of elected leaders. With the pending departure of Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel, Pontiac's fate is being turned back to the people. They have their first test Aug. 6. With few qualified council candidates and just two (of five running) actually capable of competently serving as mayor -- Leon Jukowski and Deirdre Waterman -- we'll see how voters do.

Regardless, there needs to be an ongoing training process for both leaders and voters.

Pontiac's Committee of 50, long established as a civic improvement group, appears well positioned to play this role. Detroit has numerous comparable groups.

It's time to restart an education process that in healthy cities is an ongoing matter of routine.

Glenn Gilbert is executive editor of The Oakland Press. Contact him at glenn.gilbert@oakpress.com or 248-745-4587. Follow him on Twitter @glenngilbert2.